Penarth resident and musician James Joseph has just completed a charity fundraiser challenge that saw him run up and down Custom House Hill 350 times this month.

The guitarist and singer for rock group James and the Cold Gun ran the equivalent height of Mount Everest (29,029ft) to raise money for the Breast Centre in Llandough Hospital, which helped his mother overcome breast cancer.

The Centre uses donations to provide special bras for mastectomy and reconstruction patients and offer complementary therapies.

They also contribute towards pamper evenings, lingerie evenings and style and confidence sessions for women who have gone through treatment for breast cancer.

"It's definitely a nice sense of accomplishment," he told Nub News upon completing the challenge. "Now it's time for a bath."

This is not James' first lockdown fundraiser. In summer, he ran and cycled 1,000 miles for the Dog Rescue Hotel in Cardiff.

But he soon needed to find a new challenge after entering a rut over winter.

"The last couple of months of 2020 were a bit slow and dreary. I've not performed since December 2019, and I think most of us had at that point had enough of lockdown and just doom-scrolling," he says.

"The dog rescue fundraiser went really well and I wanted to do something again. I've never done hill running before - I usually avoid hills which is the logical thing to do - but it's great. I actually see lots of regulars."

James says the main inspiration for completing the challenge has been the charity, but that it has improved his mental health along the way.

"My mum was diagnosed in early 2019 and is fine now, so that really inspired me to do it. I thought, it makes sense.

"Through doing it I've definitely felt better. If I get this out the way in the morning then it feels like I've achieved something that day."

The fundraiser's JustGiving page has exceeded its target. James hopes a few more people will donate in the coming days.

"We set out to raise £500 and have smashed that - we've done £750 at the moment.

"Part of me really wants to round it off at £1,000. But of course we understand that it's a tough time for people and I'm not expecting anything."